twig125silver
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posted on August 29, 2005 05:55:25 PM new
I acquired a few different lots of paper items and cannot figure the best place to list them on eBay.
The autographs and postcards are fairly "easy" to place....
My problem items are some WWII letters written by servicemen in England to a girl in Massachusetts. All have the envelopes and stamps.
My biggest problem item is an large paper that I believe is for a property transaction in England on January 3, 1681. It is written in "Old English", which needless to say, I am having alot of trouble reading. The paper starts "This Indenture" (which I originally thought was for a servant. But it seemed with what words I could make out to speak mostly of property.) There were others along this line sold at this estate auction, and I felt fortunate to acquire one of them.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
TerryAnn
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jake
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posted on August 29, 2005 06:07:33 PM new
Military stuff can be listed under Collectibles:Militaria and Collectibles: Cultures for the England paper, or Postcards & Paper?
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toybuyer
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posted on August 29, 2005 07:02:56 PM new
Don't forget genealogy category if you have surnames listed. You could include the property transaction in that category if there is are names listed showing ownership of property which is vital in genealogical research. If truly a live document from 1681, its definately an item that is an "antique".
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birgittaw
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posted on August 29, 2005 07:33:25 PM new
Generally I have found over the years that the category is becoming less relevant as the number of listings increase.
For your deed, there's books, manuscripts -- there's collectibles: historical memorabilia, etc. Keywords are much more important than category (which is why I no longer do two categories unless it's a freebie or nearly so).
B/
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Roadsmith
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posted on August 29, 2005 08:40:55 PM new
toybuyer: Where is the genealogy category? I've never seen it.
Definitely, the letters should be listed in Collectibles/Militaria/WWII/Europe.
Since there's no Antiques/Ephemera category, I think I'd list the "indenture" document in Collectibles/Ephemera. . . .
But if this is truly a document that old, I'd take it to a reputable auction dealer in one of the bigger cities. You may have a real treasure there.
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toybuyer
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posted on August 30, 2005 12:12:36 AM new
Road: Genealogy is a category under "Everything Else". There are subgroups under Genealogy. I don't use it a lot but have had some success on unique items especially with an uncommon surname. I agree that Collectibles/Ephemera may also be a good category as well for the land document especially if its from the 1600's.
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rutabaga
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posted on August 30, 2005 01:35:24 AM new
TerryAnn,
Your WWII letters, though written from England, may have been sent by a US serviceman stationed there. I would put these letters in the WWII Correspondence category.
Your 17th Cent. indenture is probably written on vellum. You can do a search on completed auctions for vellum indentures to get an idea of values, categories, etc. I would place it in the Antiques/Manuscripts category or Collectibles/Documents.
Good luck.
Rutabaga
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twig125silver
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posted on August 30, 2005 02:17:55 AM new
Thank you everyone for your assistance!
I guess what I need to do is learn to read Old English. I'll need to pick out the names and where the property was. I did find some last night on eBay. One would think it's worth alot of money, but they don't have bids and start at less than $50.
I guess I'll have to "keep my fingers crossed" for the Civil War era child's folding chair Mark bought. I think he paid too much, but it is a darling chair.
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birgittaw
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posted on August 30, 2005 04:33:08 AM new
Here is a link to the Old English alphabet that may be useful as you struggle with the deed. Pretty stuff!
http://tinyurl.com/8e2jf
Unfortunately, I think you're correct in finding that age in this case does not translate into high prices. The only success I've ever had with deeds has been parchment/vellum or sheepskin American ones from the area in which I was doing a show.
Normally my Civil War era camp chairs go to re-enactment folks, unless they're stamped with manufacturer (they made these chairs up until World War I if not later) and attributable to a specific military unit. I've never seen a child's chair -- good luck with it! (Re-enactment is a sub category of collectibles, militaria, Civil War if I recall).
B/
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blueyes29
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posted on August 31, 2005 07:57:20 PM new
I had one of those antique "indentured" documents a few years ago and also expected it to be quite valuable. It did sell but at nowhere I thought it would once again proving the adage "Just because it's old doesn't mean it valuable". They ARE interesting though and I think others have a good idea about listing under genealogy if you can decipher the names. Be sure to put the name in the title line.
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sparkz
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posted on August 31, 2005 08:17:04 PM new
Ummmm....I'm sure this already occurred to you, but just in case your auctions are defaulted to U.S. bidders only, you don't want to forget to open this one up to international bidders.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
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